Old Cars Weekly – 22 August 2019

30 ❘ August 22, 2019 http://www.oldcarsweekly.com

Letourneur et Marchand faux cabriolet, J-466

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One of the most elegant fi xed-roof Duesenbergs tohave

been built was a unique faux cabriolet. This body wases-

sentially a victoria with a fi xed, leather-covered roof andpure-

ly cosmetic landau irons to make it appear as though theroof

collapsed. A large but proportionate trunk gave the blackcar

balance, and it was fi tted with Grabel headlamps to complete

the car’s European look. According to French automotivehis-

torian Alain Dollfus, the car was designed and built by French

coachbuilder Letourneur et Marchand for the Marquis dePor-

tago and delivered to him on Aug. 14, 1931. The Marquisde

Portago split his time between Madrid and Paris, but thecar

met its demise in the French commune of Roanne. There,the

“inventor” who bought the car in 1950 took it apart simplyto

“see what made it tick.” Its remains were scrapped in 1965.

Letourneur et Marchand built two other bodies forDue-

senberg Model J chassis, both cabriolets of similar style,and

they, too, are lost cars.

Brunn limousine, J-520

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Brunn & Co. of Buffalo, N.Y., is known to have builtjust

six bodies for the Model J chassis. Despite being known

for its quality construction, only three are known to survive,

all of them Brunn’s Riviera convertible sedan style. Among

those lost is the handsome Brunn fully enclosed limousine

that was used for a time as the personal vehicle of E.L.Cord

of the Cord Corp., owners of Duesenberg.

Hibbard & Darrin town car, unknown engine number

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The most prolifi c European coachbuilder on the Due-

senberg Model J chassis was Hibbard & Darrin, perhaps

because E.Z. Sadovich, the importer to Europe of Duesen-

berg chassis, rented showroom space from the coachbuilder.

Twelve different bodies were built by Hibbard & Darrin for

the Model J chassis, the fi rst of which was a town car with

engine J-195.

Town cars are at home on the concours field, but not

necessarilyina speed competition yetthis Duesenbergdid

bothwhenit competeintheJanuary 1930 RallyMondialde

l’EleganceSportiveAutomobile.ThisFrench1000-milerally

alsoincludeda concoursandtheDuesenbergdidwellinboth,

finishingjustbehindthefirst-placeRolls-Royce.InJune,the

repaintedtowncarwasdisplayedatanotherconcoursinEu-

rope.

It hassincedisappearedwithoutleavinga tiremark.

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